Too Many Chances For Ghouls

HALLOWEEN, ONCE a minor threat to easily-tipped outhouses and to store, home and automobile windows that cried out to be soaped, now poses far more risks for the celebrants than for their targets.

Trick or treaters, most of them small children, have become potential victims of a type of perversity that defies understanding -- the booby-trapping of candy and fruit with poison, razor blades and other deadly additives.

A concept that promised to do much to reduce the holiday`s risks is on shaky ground. Corporate sponsors of a county-wide program that would replace random street activities with parties, parades, magic shows, and costume judging, have decided there is not enough time to raise the money needed to underwrite the festivities.

They say they can`t collect the $300,000 fee set by the Washington D.C.-based consulting firm that would coordinate activities here. Their assessment may be accurate but the basic premise is skewed.

Why spend that much money on an outside consultant?

The format calls for 15 to 25 party sites at malls, community centers and Boys` Clubs. With cooperation from local governments, the School Board, and business and civic leaders, that kind of enterprise could be successfully undertaken without the help of an expensive middle man.

The program doesn`t have to be full-grown at birth. A modest start in October could be the foundation for a community party that would make the holiday fun for Broward children while keeping them out of range of Halloween crazies.